DANIEL ADAIR

When Daniel was thirteen years old in Vancouver, he unpacked his dad’s old 1967 Ludwig drum set and began playing around on them. He admittedly had “no clue” what he was doing and, later that night, he watched some music videos to catch a few tips from the drummers. After those music videos, “it started to make sense how the drum kit worked.” Music immediately sounded different. He listened for the drums and tried to teach himself. Daniel mimicked licks from John Bonham, Neil Peart, Tim "Herb" Alexander, Lars Ulrich, and many others. He recalls listening to his sister’s Rush record, Hemispheres. “It was intense!” he says. Daniel started air drumming in bed at night and playing along with albums during the day.

Nonetheless, as a teenager, Daniel’s interest in the drums waned and, despite working at a music store, he didn’t play very often. However, being exposed to diverse music day in, day out helped to expand his musical horizons to include different genres, such as jazz fusion. He also had the opportunity to meet a lot of musicians. Later he would say that the music store “was the best networking move [he] ever made.” Combined with the musical immersion, Daniel felt inspired to start playing again. He even began tinkering around with the bass guitar. Now throwing himself head-on into his musical endeavors, Daniel refocused himself and held himself to a strict practice regimen.

From pubs to festivals, to late night recording sessions, Daniel seized every opportunity to play that he could find. His hunger for experience and exposure was insatiable. He also started signing lead and backup vocals while playing in order to make himself more attractive to potential bands.

During one of many gigs at this time, Daniel met guitarist David Martone. They quickly started creating “exciting, challenging instrumental fusion music together.” This kind of work helped Daniel challenge his musical boundaries and his playing technique matured. Daniel landed better gigs around town, began teaching students of his own, and managed the music store--all while working with three or four bands at once.

In 2002, Daniel joined 3 Doors Down in the studio and on tour. Over the next two and a half years with 3 Doors Down, he toured fourteen countries, recorded one live album, and one studio album. After leaving 3DD, Daniel joined Nickelback in January 2005. They toured for two years and recorded All the Right Reasons.

At the end of 2007, Nickelback took some time off, but they plan to resume performing soon. In his downtime, Daniel still records and performs with David Martone.